In almost all cases you should transcribe a quotation exactly as it appears in the source. However, you may occasionally want to italicize words in a quotation to call special attention to them. If you add italics for emphasis, indicate that you’ve altered the quotation by using the phrase emphasis added (or my emphasis), like . . .

To cite an image found through Google using the image-search function, you must identify the Web site—that is, the container—where the image was posted. For example, let’s say you found this image of The Muleteer by searching “Pompeii” and then “Bodies.” Viewing the image thumbnail in the search-results list is not sufficient. You must click . . .

Sometimes, a source needs to be cited in a piece of prose that doesn’t lend itself to the kind of documentation appropriate for research papers. In a short, informal, or nonacademic piece of writing—such as a letter to the editor or an informational brochure like the one shown in the examples below, from an art . . .

To credit the creator of subtitles, follow the MLA template of core elements. If you substantively refer to or quote from the subtitles while discussing other aspects of the film, provide the name of the person who created the subtitles, if known, in the “Other contributors” slot: Burge, Stuart, director. Othello. Performances by Laurence Olivier . . .

The eighth edition of the MLA Handbook recommends brevity and clarity in an in-text citation (116)—brevity so that a reference won’t obstruct the flow of reading and clarity so that the reader can easily find the corresponding entry in the works-cited list. If you cite two works by the same author, you must provide a . . .

As the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook explains, “An element should be omitted from the entry if it’s not relevant to the work being documented” (20). For example, if you are citing the handbook, begin with the title since the book has no author: MLA Handbook. 8th ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2016.

To cite wall text, follow the MLA template of core elements. Provide a description of the wall text as the title of the source. This may include the title of the artwork the wall text explains and the artist who created it. If the work was part of an exhibit, include the exhibit’s name as . . .

To cite a term in the dictionary that includes different parts of speech in the headword, follow the MLA template of core elements and begin with the headword (as it appears) as the title of the source. Note that this may include parts of speech. “Heavy, Adj. 1 and N.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, . . .